The Dutch government said on Tuesday it had blocked the sale of more than 1.3 million Sony Corp. 6758.T Playstation One consoles and accessories in November because the cables contained too much cadmium.

Sony's new Playstation Two consoles were not involved.

The government said in a statement that Dutch customs and the state's health inspection service IHM had discovered the consoles and 800,000 accessories -- estimated to be worth $162 million -- during an inspection of a distribution center in Tilburg, a town in the south-central Netherlands.

The case would be studied by the Dutch public prosecution office, it said.

"The cables attached to devices belonging to the (consoles) contained much too high values of cadmium... The cables, which were examined, contained values of cadmium varying between three and more than 20 times the allowed value," the government said.